AP: PennDOT withholds funding plan from public

Tuesday

Jun 18, 2013 at 1:50 PMJun 18, 2013 at 1:51 PM

MARC LEVY

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The state Department of Transportation has built a website that compares competing plans to spend billions of dollars on highways and bridges in new transportation money under proposals being considered by the Legislature, but agency officials have refused to release similar information to the public, which will pay for the chosen projects.

The department gave lawmakers access about two weeks ago to the password-protected website, and The Associated Press learned about the site from lawmakers and legislative staff aides. But department officials refused repeated requests by the AP to detail which highway and bridge projects that the agency expects to be funded. Several senators asked about it were surprised to hear that the website had not been made public.

"I don't see any good reason why they can't go public with it," Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman, R-Centre, said Tuesday. "It's not earth-shattering stuff. It's highways and bridges."

PennDOT officials have maintained that the plan remains a draft, not final, and cite that as the reason not to make public their plans to spend billions of dollars in tax, fee and fine increases that are under consideration by lawmakers.

The transportation bill is the state's first in six years, and proponents say it's badly needed. But the time for the public to learn about the projects ahead of a possible bill passage is dwindling. Gov. Tom Corbett is pressing for a plan in less than two weeks.

"The public deserves better than good enough and they deserve to know what projects will be delivered, instead of may be delivered," agency spokesman Steve Chizmar said in a statement last week. "Lawmakers are aware of the many transportation needs of their constituents and together, we are working to get as close as possible to delivering on those needs. We will deliver the projects on the final list but for now what we have is a draft list and Pennsylvanians deserve to know facts instead of maybes."

In a June 5 email to lawmakers, Transportation Secretary Barry Schoch said his agency intends to make the website public, but did not say exactly when and asked lawmakers not to share the password. He said that would allow lawmakers to contact his agency with issues or concerns prior to its release to their constituents.

"Obviously the final list will depend upon the actual legislated revenue if a bill is passed and signed by the governor," he said in the email.

PennDOT's online map shows 10 years of highway and bridge project funding under each of two competing plans. One plan is Corbett's $1.8 billion proposal, unveiled in February, and the other is a $2.5 billion Senate plan that passed the chamber June 5 and is under consideration in the House.

The PennDOT project map can be sorted by legislative district and each highway or bridge project is denoted by an icon. Information on each project includes a description, price tag and video clip.

Some projects will run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, including nearly $800 million for three Interstate 83-related projects in Dauphin County, east of Harrisburg, according to information from the office of Sen. Rob Teplitz, D-Dauphin.

Both the governor's plan and the Senate's plan rely primarily on gradually increasing a wholesale gas tax by 28.5 cents a gallon over several years, giving Pennsylvania among the nation's highest fuel tax rates. The Senate plan also would raise money by increasing fees on vehicle registration, driver's licenses and traffic violations.

Under the Senate bill, about $1.9 billion a year would go toward highways and bridges. Another $510 million a year would go toward mass transit systems, including $60 million to help transit systems buy buses that run on alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas.

About $115 million a year would be divvied up among airports, ports, railways and walking and biking routes, although up to $35 million of that would be set aside for related highway or bridge projects that are picked by the transportation secretary.

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